Opposite of Red and Every Other Color, With a Simple Chart

The opposite of red, and why there are two answers

Painters have long used a wheel built on three primaries: red, yellow and blue. Mixing two primaries gives the color that sits between them, and the opposite of any primary is the mix of the other two. Yellow plus blue makes green, so green faces red.

Screens build color from red, green and blue light. On that wheel the opposite of red is the mix of green and blue light, which is cyan, a bright blue-green. Printers flip the idea around and use cyan, magenta and yellow ink, so their opposites match the screen wheel.

Opposite color chart

Use the middle column for paint, fabric, makeup and room decor. Use the last column for websites, slides and digital art.

The two columns agree more than they first seem to. Cyan is a greenish blue, and lime is a yellowish green, so the screen answers are usually close neighbors of the paint ones.

Opposites of blue, yellow and green

Blue

The opposite of blue is orange in paint and yellow in light. That is why sunsets over the sea look so vivid, and why so many sports uniforms pair navy with orange.

Yellow

Yellow faces purple in paint, since purple is red plus blue. On screens yellow faces blue. Gardeners use the paint pair when they plant violet flowers next to yellow ones.

Green

The opposite of green is red on the painter's wheel and magenta, a purplish pink, on screens. Holly berries against leaves show the paint version at work.

Opposites of purple, orange, pink and brown

Purple sits across from yellow in paint, and its screen opposite is a lime or chartreuse green. Orange faces blue in paint and a light sky blue on screens.

Pink is a pale red, so its opposite is a pale green such as mint. A deep hot pink leans toward magenta, which makes plain green its best partner. Brown is a dark, muted orange, so its opposite is a dark or grayish blue, like slate or navy. That pairing explains why brown shoes look sharp with a navy suit.

What about black, white and gray?

Black, white and gray have no hue, so they have no complement on either wheel. People still call black and white opposites, but that contrast is about lightness, not color. If you want the strongest contrast for text, dark on light beats any pair of bright opposites, which can make letters seem to vibrate. In everyday speech, though, "the opposite of black is white" is a fair answer, and the antonym basics page explains that sort of graded pair.

Using opposite colors in clothes, rooms and art

Complementary pairs make each other look stronger, so a small touch goes a long way. Designers often follow a rough rule: one color fills most of the space, its opposite becomes the accent.

• A green dress with a small red bag reads as bold but planned.
• An orange cushion on a blue sofa lifts a dull room.
• A purple shadow under yellow fruit makes a still life glow.

Words for opposite colors

The formal term is complementary colors, or simply complements. In casual talk, contrasting colors or color opposites work fine. For the reverse idea, colors that sit next to each other, such as blue, teal and green, are called analogous colors.

Spelling matters here. Complementary means completing each other. Complimentary means praising or free of charge. A free drink is complimentary; red and green are complementary. For more on contrast as a word, see contrast, and the describing words hub lists adjectives for shades and tones.